Here at Nature Unplugged, we are hugely passionate about the importance of mental health. That’s a big reason why we do what we do. While our focus is more on the preventative (upstream) side of things we know how important it is to be prepared and to know what to do in a mental health crises. Our guests today are from the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council. Yeni Palomino and Lora Cayanan are here to share about the importance of suicide prevention, provide some tips and tools for how to be prepared in a mental health crisis, and more about the amazing work they do.

SHOW NOTES:

- Community Health Improvement Partners: https://www.sdchip.org/
- Suicide Prevention Council: https://www.sdchip.org/initiatives/suicide-prevention-council/
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
- San Diego Access and Crisis Line: 888-724-7240

BIOS:

Yeni Palomino
Yeni Linqui Palomino is Vice President of Community Health and Engagement at Community Health Improvement Partners (CHIP).  Palomino has extensive work experience dating back to 2003 in addressing the issues of environmental justice and public health in underrepresented and underserved populations in San Diego.  In a previous work capacity, Palomino served as a Bilingual Program Coordinator and Organizer of the Healthy Homes Project in National City.  Upon assuming her role at CHIP in 2010, Palomino embarked on a 2-year program development journey to inspire sustainable, grassroots leadership on public health issues which led to the creation of the CHIP / Resident Leadership Academy program – a curriculum-based, public health leadership and advocacy program that provides residents from underserved communities with the tools and skills necessary to become lifelong health advocates addressing issues such as public safety, healthy food access and the quality of physical activity opportunities. Palomino has worked on issues relating to behavioral health since 2014, and currently serves as lead facilitator of San Diego County’s Suicide Prevention Council, which focuses on implementation of its 2018 published Action Plan based on the Institute of Medicine’s Environmental Prevention Model --- a health equity framework.

Lora Cayanan, MPH 
Lora Cayanan is the Program Manager for Community Health Improvement Partners (CHIP) and the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council (SPC). Lora has spent the past 6 years working at CHIP previously serving as a Program Coordinator, Program Assistant and Intern. She became a Certified Question Persuade and Refer or QPR Trainer in 2015 and oversees the training program for San Diego County with over 22,000 individuals trained since 2011. She is also an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training or ASIST instructor. Lora received her Bachelors in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine and her Master’s of Public Health from National University.

CREDITS:
Intro and Outro Song: The Soft Pack - Mexico

Episode 064: Mental Health and Suicide Prevention with Yeni Palomino and Lora Cayanan

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Learn more about Sebastian and his father in the book Ashes in the Ocean, available on Amazon.com

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CREDITS:
Intro and Outro Song: The Soft Pack - Mexico

Nature Unplugged Podcast

Episode 018: #Unsubscribed with Alexa Mendes

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Episode 064: Mental Health and Suicide Prevention with Yeni Palomino and Lora Cayanan

Nature Unplugged Podcast

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